Zucchini Fries

by Susan on January 7, 2012

Two veggie-based posts in a row. Perhaps I unknowingly have a New Year’s resolution to get everyone eating more vegetables? Never fear, tomorrow will be something baked and naturally sweet, as I have the baking itch…

Tonight’s side, though, is another example of a very user-friendly way to turn a vegetable into something appealing to those not so keen on the green. It was made possible thanks to two things: my awesome new mandoline and a day spent home with a sick girl. The latter gave me a little extra time to peruse delicious-looking food on Pinterest, where I stumbled upon quite tempting zucchini fries. Within an hour of “pinning” the recipe I had five other people repin it to their own personal boards.

Clearly, then, they looked pretty good.

If you don’t have a mandoline, whip out your best knife skills to try to julienne your zucchini. You want the pieces thin and fry-like. For the coating, I used Trader Joe’s almond meal, which yielded very delicious, grain-free fries. If you don’t have easy access to almond meal you can make your own: simply grind up almonds in a food processor. If you’re a little bit more low maintenance, I’d suggest experimenting. Some ideas that come to mind are spelt flour, ground flax and ground flake cereal.

The combination of garlic and salt were perfect for seasoning, and both of my kids gobbled these up! Zucchini has an inherent sweetness that really comes out in the oven. They have never really loved it much in the past unless it was baked into a sweet bread or muffin, totally masking its veggie-ness. These will definitely be added to my side dish roster, and were a nice change of pace from our standard sweet potato fries.